A COMMERCIAL ALLIANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 68, 20 March 1916, Page 4

A COMMERCIAL ALLIANCE.

! There has been a good deal of talk I lately among the Allies about a commercial alliance to supplement the pre ! sent political bond. The subject is discussed by Dr. Dillon in the " English | Review." Britain. France, Ru:sia ai\i j their Allies might adopt two tariff sysj tcms, each country levying a light tax j (or none at all) upon produce and man\i- ' facturcd goods imported from their I Allies, and a heavy tax on all ! imports coming from other neutral or enemy countries. The two immediate objects proposed are to prevent r.atiov.s like Germany from profiting by British Free Trade, which they have never re iciprocated; and in the second place, to put pressure.upon neutrals to constrain , them to enter the Alliance. He further advises heavy shippin? dues a;ft rcstr;:tions on coasting trade in the case of . all *" outside" nations. Also in the exj portalion of coal from Britain, a doub'." 1 standard of export duties would be set ! up, a heavy one when the destination j was a seaport outside the Alliance, and I a light one for Allied territories. Dr. j Dillons affirms that two of the neutral nations are so dependent upon British coal in order to keep up their industries and defence system, that had Britain refused to export to them *s long as they remained neutral, they would have been forced to join the Entente. In future only members of the Entente would enjoy the financial and commercial advantages which have hitherto been given indiscriminately and without reciprocal benefits to friends or enemies alike. The proposed arrangement is described as a mobilisation of the Allies' economic forces which couid be used to further I their political purposes. Germany, we j are told, is already at work on a plan j of this nature, and before the end of | last year had prepared the first draft of ! a tariff bond or union between itself and allies and against the Entente and neutrals. The details of such a commercial and economic alliance would have to be carefully worked out, and Dr. Dillon's scheme would no doubt be modified after the conclusion of peace. But recent cable reports suggest that some bond or union is already under the consideration of the British Government. In his reply to the deputation urging the appointment of a Minister for Commerce. Mr. Asquith said that a conference would

shortly be fceld ia Pari* to discata the; _ whole question of commercial and { economic relations, and he added that , he hoped the delegates would arrive at a < solution satisfactory to the Allies, the ] Dominions, and ths United Kingdom. ] This evidently points to something in the ■ nature of an understanding amongst the \ Allies, and the outcome of the conference , may be a European Tariff Union, such ( as has been agitated for between mem- , Were of the British Empire. The one j project appears to traverse the other to , some extent, and the -solution will be ( awaited with great interest in the over- j seas Dominions. A European Bond . might have far-reaching consequences, ■ | and prove a great stride forward towards j the Federation of Europe. The first ' phase in the formation of the united German Empire was the Zollverein, or ' Customs Union, formed amongst 23 ! separate Teutonic States in IS3B. It nourished if it did not give birth to the grand idea of national unity in place of the petty restrictions and local I jealousies of small principalities. Less than thirty years later the Zollverein was followed by the establishment of the North German Confederation, with a centralised Government, binding all the confederate States together, and including under one uniform system of control, military and naval services and Customs, telegraphs and post. The whole of Germany, except Hamburg and Bremen, had by that time entered into the Zollverein. Another advance was made when the ' Southern States were admitted into the . North German Confederation, which ; thus became the "German Confedera- ! tion." Unfortunately, the movement did | not end here, and a final step was taken | which established the dominancy of I Prussia, and changed the Confederation into the German Empire. From the outset this was a departure from the principles of a real federation of equal and independent States, and the result has been to drag the whole of Germany in the wake of one predominant military kingdom into the present disastrous wai. The warning is written large for other nations, but so far as the Zoll-. verein and the succeeding Confederation were concerned, the Teutonic .people reaped real and substantial benefits and no harm from them. The following is Mt. D. C. Bates' weather forecast for 24 hours from 9 a.m. this day: "The indications are for northerly winds, moderate to strong. Expect changeable and showery weather, with mild and hazy conditions. The barometer has a falling tendency. Sea moderate.. Tides good." The young, man ..Hansen, who disappeared mysteriously from Thames a fortnight ago, and of whom nothing has since been heard, has a sister resident at Frankton. She states that her brother was of a very quiet disposition, and was strictly temperate. She also states that about five years ago another relative named Hansen disappeared in exactly the same way at Whangarei. He rode into town one evening, placed hie horse in a stable, and, after leaving the town was never heard of or seen again. The representations recently made to the Minister of Railways (Hon. W. H. Herrics) on behalf of the Mount Albert Borough Council and the Auckland Town-pfanning League, in connection with the continued carting of scoria j from the Mount Albert quarry, have ' met with an unfavourable response. The I Minister states that serious inconveniI ence would be caused to the Railway | Department and the l*ublic Works De- ] partment in the event of the Government closing their quarry. It was also ! pointed out that it would be a serious I loss to local bodies obtaining their supI plies from this source. The j Mayor of Mount Albert is convening a public meeting, to be held on Monday next, at which the reply will be discussed. The meeting will also"determine what actios to adopt to prevent the continued ■ spoliation of the mountain. » ' in Australian lady, writing to a friend in Palmerston. recounts a rather thrilling experience which an Australian officer went through on Gallipoli durin; the eventful campaign which took place there. Daring a bombardment by the Turkish guns the officer was buried for half an hour in his dugout, and was ua. conscious when recovered. One of his -no-lieutenants was buried for four hours, but was conscious all the timo. Half a battalwn of Australians were s)co buried, and the other half had to iig them out. The Australians could not make cut why the Turks if-J not go fo.them after the bombardment,, but found thet a fierce blizzard which swept over the peninsula, had acted as a deterrent to the Turks, and in the bitter -weather of those few days many of the enemy lad bee.n frozen to death, and in this connection some oi the Australians also l;ai.f the great penalty; and were found ieid at their posts. | Some interesting information in referi ence to steamship values was given by . j Colonel James Burns, head of the firm of Burns. Philp and Company. Ltd.. to a Sydney "Herald" reporter. 'There is so much enterprise in England at the • present time in connection with the supi ply of munitions that the price asked for new steamers is almost prohibitory." he said. "No one can order vessels at the j present time. I have been making injquiries. and I find that it would cost us . I just double the money to build a ship now that it would have cost three years I ago. It is therefore impossible at the present time for us to improve our fleet in any way for the Islands and Singapore I services. The Admiralty is still taking up vessels for trooping and other pur- ■ poses. There are no vessels building. I or, at least, very few, and there are i constant losses. Most of the shipbuilding yards are busy on naval work. Some contracts for merchant vessels were fixed 1 before the war, and these have to be i finished, but practically no new contracts are being arranged. One or two yards have taken a few orders, but not to any extent. The Tesult of all this is that the Norwegians and several other neutral . nations have done remarkably well in i the shipping industry. The Norwegian . shipping companies are paying as much .as 50 percent. Some are paying a little , more than this, but the bulk are paying 50 per cent. Their vessels cannot be ! commandeered by the Imperial Govern- . ment. and they are able to work without , uncertainty in this respect." i Probate has been granted by Mr. Jus- [ tice Stringer in the following estates of > deceased persons: —William Armitage i (Mr. Kent). Mary Ann Bishop (Mr. MulI gan). Edward Bullivant (Mr. Skelton), John Senior Carter (Mr. Gould). John Clarke (Mr. Thome). Caroline Crocker 1 (Mr. Buddie). John William Foote (Mr. ' Clayton), Henry Rees George (Mr Biss), - Frederick Hamlin (Mr. Glaister). ■ Thomas Cotton Hallamore (Mr. Dronv ! gonl). Alfred Richard Mayo (Mr. Mil- ' ler). Frederick Stuckey (Mr. McConf nell). Peter Joseph Tierney (Mr. Clav- > ton), Archibald Woollatt (Mr. Mowt lem). Letters of administration were . granted in the estate of Leddre Le 1 Gallais (Mr. Kent).

JL-gobJ deal el «x«ite»Mnt «u-cuml at Kawhia on Wednesday morning last, when, two Maoris Arrived by launch And complained that they bad been severely handled by a settler and his employees late the previous night at Waiharakeke. Tte natives stated that they lost their way, being strangers to the district, and went to a settler's house to make inquiries. On arrival .there the natives were met by men who, they alleged, roughly handled them, pulled them off ; their horses, knocked them down with club* and pointed revolvers at their head's, while their names were demanded. The matter was reported to Constable fl. Smith, who left by launch to investigate. The promotion of the new Cathdfc church, which was opened at Northeote •« yesterday, and which will oe administered by the Eev. Father Furlong na« been carried through m the face ri many difficulties which arose asi the outcome of the war. Several young fellows who had been rendering enthusiastic assistance towards the object, bein» of military age, had answered the * call of Empire, and thus the.project.was robbed of their services. It is claimed that there is not a single member of a Roman Catholic family of military age in Birkenhead or Xorthcote who has not * enlisted. When in areas where submarines are . known to ba operating look out for dis- , coloured water. This advice to navaga- , tors is offered by the commander of a ( 'lar«e transport who, with 1900 troops on ( •board, had a wonderful escape from being , torpedoed. The captain was on the _ bridge when the incident happened, and he relates in a letter to the secretary of the Imperial Merchant Service Guild that he saw discoloured water on the . port beam, about 500 ft away. He instantly put the helm hard-a-port, and as j the ship was travelling full speed she ( instantly answered her helm. As soon as she began to swing the commander saw the periscope of a submarine from the discoloured water, and a few _ seconds later a torpedo was fired. For- _ Itunatelv. it cleared the vessel by 100 ft. jln concluding his letter he adds: "My experiences may be of some use to other members of the profession to look out ; for decoloured water and treat same as a submarine." In a letter from Epsom. England, an Auckland boy. who left with the Fourth Reinforcements, and who is now there convalescent, speaks enthusiastically of the treatment received by invalided soldiers. He states that he has now been in England for nearly four months, and hopes to be off six weeks' furlough in two weeks' time. He has received numerous invitations from people in many parts of England,.and hopes to spend several weeks in Scotland." By a strange coincidence "he "has met another Xew Zealand boy with whom he used to work. This poor fellow has lost a leg. The writer himself had two very narrowescapes. Once while 'he was stooping a Sniper 'had a shot at him, for a bullet went through the side of his tunic, and just grazed his skin. On feeling in his pocket the next day he pulled out some postcards through "which the bullet had passed. Later he had another lucky escape. This time the bullet struck the strap on the front of his cap, and stunned him for a moment. The only result, however, was a lump on his forehead about the size o? an egg for a couple of days. The narrow road along the precipitous coastline between Houghton Bay and Island Bay, Wellington, was the scene of an accident last Friday evening, which, though attended by serious results, was remarkable in that no one was killed. A man named Walter Restieaux was driving a milk-cart, and came into collision with a motor-car. The cart was considerably knocked about and the horse landed on top of the bonnet of the motor, smashing the wind-screen, and otherwise damaging the car to such an extent that it was put out of commission. Restieaux was thrown out on |to the road, badly bruised, and suffering | from concussion of the brain. Medical aid was obtained, and the man was, according to the latest report, doing j fairly well under the circumstances. So I far as could be learned the driver was the only occupant of the motor-car. and Jhe is said to have escaped with a cut jon the hand from a splinter of glass from I the wad-screen. j An unusual ease of death was reported ,| to the Sydney Coroner last week. About . j 12.20 p.m. on Sunday, Isaac Bain, 54 , | years of age, a confectioner, lately living ;| at 48. Rcnny Street, Paddington, was • arrested in Moore Park on a charge of I , aiding and abetting in the sale of liquor. -j On tne way to No. 3 Police Station he ; > was seen by the constable in whose . : charge he was, to put his hand in his - inside pocket several times, after wiich ; I he would put the finger in his mouth and > I suck it. The constable asked him what [: he was sucking, and deceased replied . 'lollies." When searched at the police I station, a white, hard substance, about " the size of a hen's egg, was found in an : open tin in his inside coat pocket. He ' was asked what it was, and on replying , that "it was a lollie—l use it after I | smoke"—it was handed back to him. ] After being placed in the cells, ah hour . later he was observed by another , prisoner to break a small piece of the , I white substance off and place it in his .: mouth. A quarter of an hour afterwards ; j lie was unconscious, and he died a Httle i J later at Sydney Hospital. A oost-iuor- ; tern examination revealed that deceased i died from cyanide of potassium poisont ing. i At Mossmau (Sydney. X.S.W.), a num- * bcr of houses occupied by Germans have been raided, and arms and ammunition I found. The discovery of these was " brought about quite by an accident. A , child was playing soldiers with some j other children, and remarked that th> , children's guns were not half as good j as the guns that his daddy had in the j' cellar. This led to a search being made. . and 000 rifles were found, together with , a quantity of ammunition. I The Dunedin '"' Star " understands that i the Hon. J. T. Paul, M.L.C., has adl dressed to the Prime Minister a comi munication formally demanding the ap- ! pointifaent of an independent Commisr j sion. with' power to take evidence on '■ i oath, to inquire into his allegations of -1 waste and extravagance in connection with building operations at the Otekaike Home. A doleful comment was made at the [ Christchurch Beautifying Associations '_ meeting on the tall buildings that are going up in the city. " I don't know."' | said Mr.' A. D. Dobson, " what is going . to happen. The whole city is built on a crust overlying peat, and if an earthquake comes there will be trouble. The j spire of the Christchurch Cathedral came .' down twice, and will do so again, and . with the other tall buildings the . thing will happen. There will be a . shake, and the top of the building will come down on the building by its side." : Ladies of Auckland! Read special an- ! nouncement on page 8. It interest* you, and should not be missed.—-(Ad.)